If you are an aspiring animator/cartoonist and need help with construction, go check out these great old model sheets from Disney - back when they were good.

The Disney Studio (in its heyday) got so wrapped up in principles and technique that it lost the idea of fun and creativity. They figured, just being excellent technique was enough, but I think think they fell into a dangerous trap. Principles are just your tool kit. By themselves they don't create anything fresh and wonderful. But you still need them in order to give yourself a broad palette to paint from. You can't be creative if your pencil refuses to do what you want it to. So get the basics down and then worry about being creative.

Well I wish I had the guts, John, but left completely to my own devices....eh, I don't think I would achieve much. Actually, I would honestly get such a laugh out of what the Director of my soon-to-be College du Fromage would say to that. She'd probably chew on your face. She's a tough cookie.

By the way, thanks for getting back to us! I'm serious, I was worried! I thought you fell into a black hole and came out the other side and then everything got weirder and weirder but actually it was just consistently weird all the way through and you were disappointed and then the network missed a deadline!

One more commentsorryIm starting to learn to ink using te flash program "Any advice would help me out alot"Im using an old graphite wacom, I know I need a damn cintiq but I just dont have the cash.btw if your intereted heres the link.

http://4johnk.blogspot.com/ill update daily

thanks again JohnKright now im gonna work on those drawings you posted.

I strongly agree with your method of learning by copying from classic model sheets. I spent months studying this way an saw great improvement. However, I feel you need to place more emphasis on life drawing as well. Copying from model sheets on its own is not enough to get really good at drawing cartoons. You also need to have a strong foundation in fundamental drawing and observation skills that can only be learned from representational drawing. Also, having these fundamentals down makes learning construction much easier. Just my two cents.

Ahem* I may design my films in another person's style such as De Carlo, but that doesn't mean I never apply my own design sensibilities to my films. My sense of distortion, painting, line of action and acting will indeed be evident my work in my next film. You do the same by cannibalizing Clampett and mixing in your own flavor in Spumco, so you know what I'm talking about here.

As for my personal style? That is evident in my webcomic, Superfcial*. My personal storytelling and loose drawing style is inappropriate for the animation industry, so I have a comic to use as an outlet. An artist can't help but show their influences in their work, but my heart is still apparent in my characters no matter how much one sees elements of anime, Disney Feature, Chuck Jones, Wendy Pini, Degas, Toulouse Lautrec and Patrick Nagel in the pages. I'm still there. Therefore, I do not consider myself a hack.